Even the gods weep for wilting flowers
by neutrinova
Summary: Sakura Haruno was four years old when she met Naruto Uzumaki. She often heard whispers of "demon." Whispers she didn't believe, yet she didn't realize until much later, how accurate they were. "Don't listen to them, I don't think you're a demon at all." It was then, she could see the fox-like grin, unaffected by their whispers anymore. "But it's true, I am a demon." NaruSaku AU.


**Summary:** Haruno was four years old when she met Naruto Uzumaki. She often heard whispers of "demon." Whispers she didn't want to believe, yet she didn't realize until much later, how accurate they were. "Don't listen to them, I don't think you're a demon at all." It was then, she could see his foxy grin, unaffected by their whispers. "But it's true, I am a demon."

 _AN:_ Based off of the ninja world and Konoha (loosely based off of the canon, you'll see), but still vastly different from the canon. Basically, if Naruto really was a demon. This story is overwhelmingly inspired by the story of Persephone. Only inspired, so not going to go exactly like that story. I obviously don't know what I'm doing anymore. I just wanted to write an AU and work on my descriptions. I made this M because this will be holding darker themes – way darker than what I usually write, but still pretty sweet.

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 **Even the gods weep for wilting flowers**

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 **I** – _Chance Meet_

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Sakura Haruno was four years old when she first saw Naruto Uzumaki.

The first time, it was just a small moment in her life. She clung to her mother's skirt, watching the boy with curious eyes as he felt the glares of all the villagers on his back.

It was only for a moment, for her mother moved passed the boy without the slightest bit of acknowledgement, whisking her away as well.

She curiously watched him, wondering why he was so sad, so alone.

She stared with ignorant eyes, not understanding at all what was going on or why he felt so dejected. She didn't understand what the villagers were saying, what those whispers meant.

So she continued to follow her mother, clutching onto the end of her skirt, continuing to watch with those innocent green eyes.

The villagers continued through with their lives as well, brushing the little boy aside as though he was nothing.

Sakura only looked back once, before she looked up to her mother again, forming a smile, as she took her hand.

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The second time she saw him, she decided to finally interact with him.

Sakura fixed her red ribbon on her hair, a bit embarrassed by her forehead still, but learning, slowly but surely, to not worry about the other girl's words.

At least she had Ino, after all, who looked passed her tears and massive forehead, and befriended her.

Ino was waiting by the academy doors, too busy showing other girls little techniques about flowers. She was an expert, after all.

Sakura looked around after fixing her ribbon, noticing everyone was already gone, already heading inside the academy. She noticed the same little boy from before, the one who stood alone. He looked so sad, unmoving from his spot on the swing. She realized the boy wasn't planning to go inside.

He seemed to enjoy that lonely swing, shrouded by the shadows of the leaves.

Sakura turned towards the boy.

"Hey, the bell rang, you know. It's time to go inside," Sakura finally called out to him. Sakura furrowed her brows a bit, annoyed that he didn't even acknowledge her. Did he realize she was talking to him? "Hey, you! Why are you always alone?" she wondered, completely confused and deciding it was a good a time as any to ask. He didn't say anything, but was just surprised to see her talk to him. She looked at him curiously, wondering why he didn't seem to talk. His eyes were just wide, swirled in whirlpools of confusion. Sakura quirked a brow, her hands on her hips.

"You're weird," she just said, before running towards the academy.

"Hey, I'm not weird!" he finally bellowed out, a deep blush across his cheeks. Sakura stopped in her tracks, looking back at the boy. She was shocked: he went from a mute to an angry little child. He looked frustrated, but she just giggled, wondering why he seemed so easy to tease. It was kind of amusing, but she decided not to tell him that.

"Well, you weren't saying anything," she simply said. And she thought _she_ was quiet. Admittedly, she most likely would have still been shy and silent, if it weren't for Ino, she noted. But it looked like this boy's quietness was only a facade. He was only quiet when he was alone, it looked like.

"That's because..." he paused, wondering what he was supposed to say. When there were people around, at least in class, it looked like he was as loud as they come (a class clown, they would call him on the playground. At that moment, Sakura wondered if those rumors were true). Sakura walked closer to him, raising a skeptical brow.

She didn't realize at the time, that it was so his voice could be heard in the big crowds that seemed to not give him a second glance.

"That's because," he repeated, this time very loudly. Sakura scrunched her face, covering her ears.

"You're so loud! I'm standing right here, you don't have to scream!" Sakura said, annoyed. " _I'm listening,_ " she told him.

He paused again, becoming oddly quiet at that. No one ever actually stopped to listen. He looked down to his feet, feeling a bit embarrassed. His blue sandals pressed against the soil, his eyes on the green blades of grass before he looked back up to the girl.

"Sorry," he apologized. "But it's just because... well," he stopped again, trailing off. "I don't really like class, but that doesn't matter. Anyways, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

She paused, giving it some thought. So that was his name. That wimpy blond-haired kid. She smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Haruno Sakura," she said, extending her hand out. Naruto looked down, before taking her hand, his grip soft at first, but soon firm.

A handshake. They introduced themselves with a handshake before she heard Ino call her name. Sakura let go, waving goodbye and running off.

Naruto paused for a moment, before placing his hands in the back of his head and grinning.

Sakura smiled, realizing that was the first time she saw a smile like that on the boy.

 _It's nice,_ she thought.

"You're my friend now then, Sakura-chan! Okay?" Naruto called out to her. Sakura looked back, raising an eyebrow at the odd boy.

"Sure…" She shrugged, before running off to Ino.

He certainly was an odd kid. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt off about the boy. She dismissed that feeling, however.

She stopped, before turning around.

"And get to class!" she called out to the boy, before she turned around and ran off into the academy.

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 _AN:_ So this is the start. Innocent at first, but it gets pretty dark later on, as you can tell from the summary. This is going to consist of short chapters (but hopefully fast updates). Well, if people even like it. I'm going to continue with my experiments, and see which stories I'll actually focus on if they don't suck lmao. So yeah, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Lol I'm probably going to keep posting different ideas and see what sticks with this profile. xD

If you want more NaruSaku, I'll be posting an AU oneshot on my other account. The next story I'll be posting on here will be a Pokemon AU. :) So yeah, look forward to that I suppose? Till next time!


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